Cardinals, Diamond Sports Group reach multi-year broadcasting deal

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Diamond Sports Group announced Thursday that it has reached a multi-year agreement with the St. Louis Cardinals to continue broadcasting their games.

The Cardinals are one of five Major League Baseball franchises that are part-owners of their regional sports network.

Games will air on FanDuel Sports Network Midwest. FanDuel took over naming rights for Diamond's 16 regional sports networks last month. Diamond previously had an agreement with Bally that began in March 2021.

As part of the agreement, cable and satellite subscribers in the Cardinals TV territory can stream games and other programming on the FanDuel Sports Network app. Subscribers to FanDuel Sports Network on a direct-to-consumer basis will also have access to the games.

“We valued the continuity for our fans of staying on the same network as the Blues, and we are excited that we will now be able to expand access to our games and other great Cardinals content across multiple platforms next year,” Cardinals president Bill DeWitt III said in a statement.

Diamond Sports has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the Southern District of Texas since it filed for protection in March 2023. The company said in a financial filing last year that it had debt of $8.67 billion.

A final hearing on Diamond's reorganization plan is scheduled for Nov. 14.

As part of its reorganization plan, Diamond voided the contracts of the Detroit Tigers and Tampa Bay Rays and will attempt to rework the deals of the other four franchises that are part owners of their RSNs — the Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels and Miami Marlins.

Diamond CEO David Preschlack said in a statement they remain in discussions with the other franchises.

MLB will handle the production and distribution of at least six teams going into 2025. It took over broadcasts of the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks during the 2023 season and the Colorado Rockies this year.

MLB announced last month it will add the Cleveland Guardians, Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins next season after their deals with Diamond expired.

The Texas Rangers, whose deal also expired last month, are assessing their options for next season after it announced it would not be partnering with Diamond.

Diamond also has the rights to 13 NBA and eight NHL teams.

Diamond Sports Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group bought the regional sports networks from The Walt Disney Co. for nearly $10 billion in 2019. Disney was required by the Department of Justice to sell the networks for its acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s film and television assets to be approved.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb